The invention relates to a method for detecting a state of engagement of a pinion with a corresponding gearwheel, in particular a state of engagement of a starter pinion with a starter.
The invention also relates to a method for starting a starter motor.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a computer program.
The invention also relates to a computer program product.
Moreover, the invention relates to a device for detecting a state of engagement of a pinion with a corresponding gearwheel, in particular a state of engagement of a starter pinion with a starter.
The invention likewise relates to a device for starting a starter motor.
Last but not least, the invention relates to a starter having a pinion which is to be engaged.
The invention is based on a starter having an associated relay which controls engagement of a pinion in a corresponding toothing arrangement. In particular, the invention is based on start/stop systems, in particular start/stop systems which have an expanded functionality and in which engagement occurs in an internal combustion engine which is coasting to a standstill, with subsequent positioning of the crankshaft. In such solutions it is necessary to ensure that the pinion is engaged before the starter turns.
In known solutions, the pinion position is not detected but instead waiting occurs for a predetermined time period in which engagement of the pinion has taken place with a high degree of probability. In this context it is ensured that the starter pinion has engaged in the ring gear of the internal combustion engine before the starter motor turns, by virtue of the fact that a certain lag time is maintained between the energization of the relay and that of the starter. This lag time must be selected such that under all circumstances the starter does not begin to turn before the pinion is securely engaged in the ring gear. Failure to engage, loud noises or even aborted starts are the result of excessively early turning. However, in most cases this configuration takes into account a time loss which leads to prolonged starting times, and in the case of engagement in the internal combustion engine which is coasting to a standstill and has subsequent positioning of the crankshaft leads to intermediate deactivation and/or swinging back of the internal combustion engine.
EP 960 276 B1 discloses a circuit arrangement for an engagement relay, which engages two gearwheels, of a starter device of an internal combustion engine, having a switching element which, after a first time period before the two gearwheels are brought into engagement with one another, reduces a relay current to a specific current value during a second time period. The switching element is embodied as an open-loop and closed-loop control device which increases the relay current to a predetermined value in a third time period, wherein the third time period starts when the one gearwheel reaches the other.